A/N: So, if anyone is curious about David, I didn't abandon him, he'll resurface from time to time. I'm mostly focused on Rose right now and this story is getting a little tricky. Thanks for the reviews, it really helps me :) and thanks for following this story. I'm so glad you like it.

The following morning, they had to pack up and leave. It was bittersweet for Rose, she never got to live it up like that before in her life and John definitely made it memorable, but she was also ready to move on and see new things. She picked up her bag and looked around the room and their view one last time before stepping out into the hall.

"My life isn't always that glamorous," John reminded her, "most of the time I just stay with others, or somewhere cheap. But, maybe in the future we can come back here, if you want."

"I'd like that," Rose told him. "So, where are we headed now?"

"Not far," John said, acting casual.

"What's not far?" Rose asked as she tried to think of everything that could be nearby.

"Hawaii," he said.

"What?" Rose screamed in excitement and John couldn't stop from feeling a little excited himself now.

"How long does it take to get to Hawaii from here?" Rose asked remembering her nearly day long flight from London.

Still smiling from the first reaction Rose had, he told her, "We're not flying, we are taking a cruise ship." At those words Rose let out a delighted yell and she jumped into his arms, hugging him. He wasn't a hugger, at least he thought he wasn't but now he realized hugs were good and he squeezed her back. They reached the ground floor and the doors opened, John reluctantly let go but decided to go ahead and take her hand, just to help her outside.

The ship was leaving from San Diego so they took a train there. It was only a couple of hours but Rose got to see a great view of the shore along the way. It also gave her time to ask questions. "Why a cruise, I hope you didn't have to pay too much."

"I didn't," he told her, "we aren't traveling as passengers, we will be acting as staff."

"Oh, so like undercover." Rose said jokingly.

John laughed, "I suppose, I never think of it like that. It's just work to me."

"So, what are we doing?" Rose asked, thinking about how exciting her last few days have been.

"There is possibly some illegal trading happening aboard the ship. There isn't a lot of solid evidence to warrant an investigation so they called me." He said proudly.

"What about me?" Rose asked. "What will I be doing?"

"You're gonna help me by putting that brilliant mind of yours to work." John said without a hint of humor in his voice.

"How?" Rose asked. She was blushing from that comment, she has never been called brilliant before.

"You are going to work in housekeeping, I know it's not thrilling but you will cover a lot of ground and see a lot of things."

"What about you?"

"I'm bartending, lots of information gets passed around at the bar, alcohol makes people talk." He said.

"So we are working on a cruise ship and looking for anything suspicious." She breathed, "Ok."

"The work hours are crazy but you'll have some down time to relax too to enjoy a bit of the cruise life." He told her, he didn't want her to be disappointed. Not that it mattered he told himself.

"I'm glad I packed my swimsuit then." She said.

Now John had to spend the remainder of the train ride trying not to look at Rose and picture that.

They arrived in San Diego in the early afternoon and arrived at the ship a day early. This gave Rose an opportunity to get some quick training on her new job and meet some of the crew that she will be working alongside of. She and John got taken in separate directions and Rose got a little nervous, she didn't like being on her own. She quickly got over it once she met Erica, they were assigned to the same living quarters and were instant friends.

She was not much older than Rose. She had short, blonde hair and blue eyes. She grew up in Dallas, Texas and the both of them enjoyed hearing each other's accents. She told Rose she came to San Diego just for the purpose of working on the ship, she wanted to travel while she was still young and this was a perfect opportunity. She had been working for the company for about three years so she's seen quite a bit. That was perfect for Rose, she may know something about what they are looking for.

The next morning Rose woke to the sound of Erica singing in the shower. As much as Rose enjoyed her southern accent, it did not help her singing. Rose stood up and stretched, then changed into her new work uniform. It was not flattering in the least. She wore black slacks with a white button up shirt, and a black vest.

Erica came out of the bathroom and Rose went in. She brushed her teeth and pinned up her hair then the two walked to breakfast together. Most of the crew started at 5:30 so it was crowded. Cruise food didn't seem that wonderful from the staff end, it was like cafeteria food but she ate it. They sat at a table with one of Erica's friends, Rachel. Rachel has been with the crew for five years and trained Erica when she first started.

She told Rose a few of her horror stories to teach Rose not to repeat her mistakes. The biggest one was to knock loudly and announce that you are entering a room before going in. That will save everyone a lot of embarrassment. She also warned not to get involved in relationships with the crew or the guests. Things are different at sea she told her, once you are away from the water people change.

After breakfast Erica showed Rose where to check in and they were assigned a master key for a block of rooms that they were to clean. They got a cart and pushed it to their section and began their routine. It wasn't easy at first, Rose couldn't keep up with the speed which Erica worked and she felt bad that Erica could clean two rooms to her one. She assured Rose that she will pick up speed in no time, it just took some time to learn.

Rose also learned how filthy most people are. Some rooms had food and drinks spilled on the bed, towels and dirty clothes littered the floors and she had to clean up more than one condom that day. But she did her job and left the rooms looking as good as they probably did when they were new.

They finished around noon and Erica told her she was free until dinner time. The first priority Rose had was to go back to her room and change out of her uniform. She put on a pair of shorts and a tank top then headed out to explore.

Along the way she saw John, it was the first she had seen him since they arrived the day before. Like Rose, his uniform consisted of a white, dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black vest. Except he also wore a tie and, unlike Rose, he made it look good, to an extent. His hours were different from Rose so he was still working. Rose watched him as he mixed drinks and his moves were graceful. He knew what he was doing and he did it masterfully.

She came over and took a seat at the bar to watch him. He smiled at her and unless Rose was imagining things, it seemed like he was showing off a little to impress her. She wouldn't admit to him that she was slightly impressed but she also noticed that a few other women made their way over to admire John's skills. John didn't seem to notice, however, instead he poured his last drink and quickly turned his attention to Rose while he had a moment.

"Pretty smooth," Rose complimented him.

"Thanks, but I still can't serve you, unless you want a Shirley temple." He teased.

Rose gave a sarcastic laugh, "I'll have you know I turn 21 in less than four months."

"I'll remember that," John said with a smirk, "until then, it's water and soda for you."

Rose huffed, "anyway, I was just stopping by to say hi since I'm free until dinner. I'm on my way to look around, I'll see if I can find…something."

"Keep out of trouble," he told her with a wink.

"What's the fun in that?" Rose teased as she walked away.

Rose went to the private deck reserved for staff and found Erica sitting with a group of people their age. She waved Rose over and introduced her to the group, one of those people was a boy who was also from England named Adam. Everyone assumed they should be friends since they both from the same place but Rose didn't find him interesting in the least.

Adam, however, felt drawn to Rose and when she tried to walk away from the group to look around more he followed her. "You know, if you are looking to explore I know places on this ship that some of the crew don't even know about." Adam said as he jogged to her side.

Rose was really annoyed now, she was trying to get away from him. "No, 'm fine. I was just going to go downstairs and.." her mind raced trying to think of something quick. "go eat."

Adam smiled, "great that's where I'm headed. I'll join you." He walked ahead of her and Rose sighed, wishing she thought of a better excuse.

Nonetheless she was stuck with Adam for at least as long as it took her to eat her lunch. He really liked to talk about himself and he really didn't give Rose a chance to get a word in herself. At least she could eat faster if she wasn't talking she thought.

Luckily for Rose, John just finished his shift and was now getting himself lunch too. She waved at him excitedly and got his attention. John walked over and sat down next to Rose while glaring at Adam. He wanted to know what the boy had in mind with Rose. Rose directed his attention her way as she started talking about her day, ignoring Adam completely.

Finally, Adam got the hint and left, once he was completely gone Rose let out a long, winded sigh. "I thought he would never leave," she said.

"If he was bugging you why didn't you just tell him to go?" John asked.

"I'm not gonna be rude," she said in a defensive tone.

"Fine," John huffed, "what did he want anyway?"

"To bore me to death," Rose groaned. "He said he knows parts of the ship that the crew didn't even know about. He was probably trying to get me alone."

John's look changed to a curious one, "possibly, but aren't you curious as to how he knows about those places?"

"Ick," Rose said, disgusted. "I don't want to know anything about him."

"Maybe you should try, just to see what he knows. It might help us out." He said.

"What if he tries something?" Rose asked.

"Then I'll take care of him, trust me." He said very seriously.

Rose gave a low, growl, "Argh, fine, I'll try."

Later that day, after enjoying an afternoon at the pool, Rose went to dinner before her second shift started. After getting her food she searched the area and found Adam sitting alone at a table. Putting on a fake smile she approached him, "mind if I sit?"

"No, I don't mind." He said happily and motioned to the seat across from him. He looked behind her as she began to sit, "is your boyfriend coming too?"

"What?" Rose furrowed her brows, "he's not my boyfriend."

"Really?" Adam sounded doubtful.

"Yeah," Rose insisted, "we're just friends, that's all."

"That's good," he told her with a smirk.

"Ok," Rose was regretting having this conversation. "Anyway, I'm sorry about seeming rude earlier. I just had a crazy morning, I didn't mean it."

"You'll get used to it," he told her.

"That's what I keep hearing. So, how did you end up here?" She wanted to get away from the small talk and get to something worthwhile.

Adam took a long drink from his glass of water, "I came to the U.S. for school on a scholarship. During the summer last year, I took a job here to earn some extra money and I guess I just sort of enjoyed it."

"So you quit school to work here?" That seemed a bit suspicious to Rose.

"Just for the time being, I'll go back later. I'm just saving up." He said.

"But, if you had a scholarship, why did you need the money?" Rose was curious now.

Adam looked around and leaned in, "there is a lot of money to be made if you know where to look."

"Really?" Rose said curiously. Before she could ask anymore her time was up. Erica came and found her to tell her that they needed to check in and get to work.

Rose tried to hurry, which was pointless because Erica still made her look slow. She just wanted to get through her shift and either find Adam to hear more from him or at least find John to tell him what she learned so far. Unfortunately for her, she didn't get to do either. John was busy with a crowd of partying travelers and Adam was nowhere to be found, she didn't even know what his actual job was. That would be a great way to start a conversation with him the next day.

The next morning Rose went through her normal routine, then when she was done she changed and headed up to the private deck to find Adam. He was in the same place where she saw him the day before and with the same group too. She invited him to eat with her which got a lot of whoops from everyone around, but at least he came along.

Rose dove right into questions. "So, what is your job here?" She started casually.

"I work in maintenance, so I usually run around doing lots of odd jobs." He said.

"Oh," Rose said nodding, "that's why you know so much about the ship."

"Yeah," he said, smugly. "I know shortcuts, secret compartments, hidden rooms within rooms, stuff like that."

"Wow," Rose said, "I'd like to see that sometime."

"I can take you on a tour tomorrow, if you want," he said immediately as if he were waiting for her to ask.

"I'd like that," Rose said trying to sound excited but she was still a little nervous.

Rose finished her morning shift and hurried to find John. His early afternoon crowd was far smaller now that most of them were still in bed sleeping from the night before. She took a seat at the bar then looked around to see if anyone was listening in.

"Stop looking suspicious," John said. "People only get curious if you give them a reason to."

"Sorry," Rose said, "I talked to Adam, he going to take me on a "tour" tomorrow after my shift."

"Ok," John nodded.

"Yeah," Rose said, "Adam also told me another interesting thing…"

Suddenly the crowd picked up and John had his hands full. "I'll try to find you later," he told Rose as he hurried back to work.